DC Central Kitchen is a Social Enterprise with a Long-Term Focus

By harnessing leftover food destined for the dump, DC Central Kitchen (DCCK) isn't your average soup kitchen. Every day, the people at DCCK bring in about 3,000 pounds of food from restaurants, hospitals and hotels for consumption. The food is prepared for thousands of individuals in the community who are in need -- people in rehab, shelters or transitional living establishments.

What is more, they create an opportunity for people who are at risk to learn skills and receive training through their culinary program. Those who advance through the program are then offered positions at the DCCK catering company, or they help to find them jobs in the area.

"Today, we are expanding our operations, partnering with local farmers to procure fresh produce and begin new revenue-generating social enterprises," DCCK outlines on their website.

For DC Central Kitchen, food is the medium in which they give back and nourish -- literally and figuratively.